The owner of a 10,000-square-foot house at 145 Neck Path in Springs has agreed to pay a $32,000 fine to the Town of East Hampton after using the house last summer for parties which, according to the town, charged fees of up to $5,000 for reserved spots poolside and bottle service. One of the events was advertised as “Wet Dreams All White Bikini Pool Party Getaway in the Hamptons.”
The town board voted on Feb. 11 to authorize Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc to execute the settlement with Juan Figueroa, the owner. The town had claimed he was using the house as commercial property, and a State Supreme Court justice agreed, granting a temporary restraining order on July 31 against Mr. Figueroa and “other individuals with an interest” — promoters, photographers, product launches, and event planners, most of them from New York City — from using the house as a share house or motel.
Individual rooms in the house had been listed for rent, the town said, and the entire house had been offered for $2,700 per night. It was described as being able to accommodate 20 overnight guests and, at one point, being run as a small boutique hotel, with a house manager and butlers on premises.
Under terms of the settlement, Mr. Figueroa is to pay the $32,000 fine. Several others were named as co-defendants, and they all have agreed to abide by town code with respect to use of the property.
According to the town, the promoters offered bus service to the location, “with pickups and drop-offs in several Metro-New York locations.” One advertised party that had been scheduled for August “was to have admitted only those guests who dressed in white swimwear. Another would have required those interested in attending their event to go through a vetting process.”
A Dec. 13, 2019, stipulation of settlement identifies Alfred Small of Manhattan’s Lower East Side as the owner of Priceless Event planning, which was to host the “Wet Dreams” party on Aug. 10. Also named as defendants were Cody Franklin, property manager at 145 Neck Path, Marcus Derricotte, a photographer, Craig Usiak and Pablo Nagy, officials of HELE Group L.L.C., and “John Does and Jane Does Nos. 1 through 450,” unknown individuals who intended to use and occupy the property.
A 2017 article on the Curbed Hamptons website stated that the six-bedroom, seven-bathroom glass-block house was completed in 2016 and initially offered for $5.5 million through Douglas Elliman. It is currently listed on real estate sites at $3.499 and $3.523 million. “The see-through home was brought to fruition by two creatives — designed by Juan Figueroa, who did the Williamsburg Savings Bank restoration in Brooklyn, and engineered by Jeff Smilow, the structural engineer of New York City’s Freedom Tower,” according to the article. The Williamsburg Savings Bank building is now an event space.
Mr. Figueroa and Ms. Franklin are to appear before East Hampton Town Justice Lisa R. Rana on Monday to finalize the settlement.